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Menelik Shabazz’s 1981 film follows a young office worker in London whose conventional plans are unsettled by police violence. Its Jan. 16 screening closes YBCA’s Ashley Clark-curated series on global Black cinema.
All times are local to the venue · America/Los Angeles
Pat Williams’s political awakening begins with a personal crisis: an incident of police violence leads to her boyfriend’s incarceration, challenging the future she had imagined for herself. YBCA screens Menelik Shabazz’s Burning an Illusion as the final film in The World of Black Film: Revolutions.
Cassie McFarlane plays Pat, a 22-year-old office worker in early-1980s London who narrates a story of love, conflict and political change. The film ties that shift to her circumstances: after her boyfriend, played by Victor Romero Evans, is incarcerated following police violence, Pat’s conventional aspirations are put under pressure.
YBCA places the film’s focus on a Black female character in the context of British cinema, describing it as unprecedented there up to that point. The story’s political concerns are therefore presented through Pat’s particular experience, as well as through a broader journey from innocence toward experience.
Further reading: Burning an Illusion - YBCA ↗
The Jan. 16 screening concludes The World of Black Film: Revolutions, an eight-Saturday series running from Nov. 14, 2026, through Jan. 16, 2027, with films scheduled at 2 p.m. Curated by author and programmer Ashley Clark, the series looks at global Black cinema from the 1960s to the early 1980s, a period YBCA connects to decolonization movements and growing radical political consciousness. Its stated themes include memory, migration, politics, identity and rebellion.
The selections offer different ways into that history. Med Hondo’s West Indies: The Fugitive Slaves of Liberty (1979), the series opener, uses an enormous mock slave ship as its only soundstage to examine imperialist oppression; YBCA describes it as a landmark for African cinema and the continent’s first musical. Horace Ové’s Pressure (1975), screened the week before Burning an Illusion, is identified by YBCA as the first British feature written and directed by a Black filmmaker and the first to focus on the perspective of Black characters.
Clark is the Criterion Collection’s curatorial director. The series draws on his book The World of Black Film: A Journey Through Cinematic Blackness in 100 Films, which YBCA describes as a survey spanning more than a century and 30 countries. Moviegoers can find discounted copies at YBCA’s front desk.
Further reading: The World of Black Film: Revolutions - YBCA ↗ · Ashley Clark - YBCA ↗ · Burning an Illusion - YBCA ↗
Burning an Illusion (1981), directed by Menelik Shabazz. YBCA lists the United Kingdom as its country of origin, a 105-minute runtime and Blu-ray as the screening format.
RSVP is required; the screening is part of San Francisco Art Week. Admission includes the film, curator-selected snacks while supplies last, and gallery access. YBCA invites ticket holders to visit the galleries before or after the screening.
The film starts promptly at 2 p.m., with no trailers. YBCA advises arriving a few minutes early. The listed runtime is 105 minutes; no end time is given.
The screening is at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94103. The Screening Room is in YBCA’s Gallery & Forum Building; the main entrance for its galleries and forum space is at 701 Mission Street.
YBCA says its public entrances are accessible and elevators serve both buildings. At the Gallery & Forum Building, the 701 Mission Street and Garden Esplanade entrances have electric push-button doors. YBCA’s venue listing describes the Screening Room as fixed-seat and lists 81 seats plus 8 ADA positions; that is a general room specification, not a statement about availability for this screening.
Wheelchairs are available first-come, first-served. Sign language interpretation for YBCA programs is available with three weeks’ notice. One caregiver accompanying a visitor with accessibility needs is admitted free. Service animals as defined by the ADA are welcome; pets, emotional support animals and therapy animals are not permitted. For ticket questions, call Visitor Services at 415-978-2787 during gallery hours.
YBCA’s event listing does not specify an age restriction.
Go to YBCA’s Gallery & Forum Building at 701 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94103; the Screening Room is in this building. The main entrance for the galleries and forum space is at 701 Mission Street.
YBCA says its campus can be reached by public transit, car, bicycle or on foot. Its visitor information does not give mode-specific routes or parking details here; use the map link to calculate directions from your starting point.
YBCA lists the film at 105 minutes. The screening starts at 2 p.m.; no end time is provided.
The film, gallery admission and curator-selected snacks while supplies last. RSVP is required.
YBCA says the film starts promptly at 2 p.m., with no trailers, and advises arriving a few minutes early to be seated.
YBCA says sign language interpretation for its programs is available with three weeks’ notice. Contact Visitor Services about arrangements for this screening.
701 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
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Images from the linked sources. Each caption identifies the context of the image.
Event, planning and background information checked 2026-11-02 against the linked sources.